DRUMPELLIER suffered their second straight defeat this time at the hands of Arbroath in a high-scoring game at Lochlands. The home side won the toss and elected to bat on a good wicket. And after 15 overs the decision was justified as both openers took the total past the three-figure mark with the Drumpellier bowling toiling. However, Zaheer Mohammed and youngster Andy Stewart constrained the early pace with some tight bowling in the middle of the innings but with wickets in hand towards the end Arbroath pushed on to post a huge total of 324 in their fifty overs with Matthew Parker hitting 131. The pick of the Drumpellier bowling was Mohammed with 2 for 47 off his 10 overs and Graeme McLaren with 2 for 21. Drumpellier’s reply started well with professional Pieter Stuurman leading the charge with an excellent 61, sharing in an opening wicket stand of 115 with Zaheer Mohammed. He went on to score a conservative 64 before a late blast from brother Asad Mohammed (34) and Graeme McLaren (71) took the total to 275 at the end of the 50 overs, just 49 runs short. Skipper McLaren said: "We got off to a terrible start and although we pegged them back a bit the damage was already done. "We just have to lift ourselves for the two home games at the weekend." Meanwhile, Drumpellier’s second string’s excellent start to the season continued with a winning draw against Cumbernauld at Langloan. The Langloan side batted first and posted a massive total of 246 for 5 off 50 overs with Stuart Knox hitting 99, before falling to a good catch just shy of his century. He was well supported by James Doran who hit 39 not out. In reply, Cumbernauld were 141 for 6 with Drumpellier just failing to pick up the final four wickets needed to claim maximum points. The pick of the bowlers was Darren Pryde with figures of 3 for 36. Skipper Stevie Foster said: "It has been a great start to the season for the guys. We have an excellent mix of youth and experience in the side, with everyone contributing at some point so far. "We have a few difficult away games coming up but hopefully we can continue the good form." Drumpellier got through the first round of the new revised Murgitroyd T20 Rowan cup on Tuesday night with a five-wicket win over Prestwick. The Ayrshire side batted first and posted a useful 104 of the 20 overs, before Drumpellier reached their target off the last ball of the game with Dan Stevenson notching his first half century for the club. Drumpellier were rewarded with an away tie against the winners of the Greenock versus Renfrew match. The first team have two home matches this week. They play Freuchie on Saturday and Ferguslie on Sunday. Both matches start at 1pm. The second string are away against Scotindians on Saturday. The game also kicks off at 1pm. | 
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